


Crack of Dawn

by Xyilver



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 15:44:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16244771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyilver/pseuds/Xyilver
Summary: A short story about the end of one story, and beginning another





	Crack of Dawn

He remembered. The sting of the wound. The stench as the metal from the crowbar blended with the metal of his blood. The despair in knowing that there was no one there to save him. And worst of all, the cackling, haunting laughter. He remembered. He remembered all too well.

Through the mask that hid away his face, his eyes narrowed, the trauma everpresent. Too long in the liquids of the Lazarus Pit, soaking in the essence that brought him back… yet left him gripping at sanity. The hatred and injustice he had felt at Bruce.

Their tussle, their fight, how they duked it out. For all that the man stood as a symbol for, for all that the man had brought to Gotham, for all that the man had done for everyone else, he was incapable of rescuing a single child… and even less capable of redeeming himself by taking revenge on that child’s behalf.

Bruce was always in his own world. He had always been. Would always be. Even Dick had said the same. While raising the Robins and his own flesh and blood had changed Bruce in some way, the man never grew past the boy who hid behind the cowl and the body armor and the martial arts and the fear. At the end of the day, Bruce Wayne was still a child on the inside, trying to hide from that trauma. The Joker had known so. Dick, Barbara, everyone had known so. But while the Joker exploited it, and the rest of them ignored it, Jason resented him for it.

That same cowardice and self-ambition was the reason why Jason always held that grudge, even when all had been said and done. Yet… the world was never going to be the same again. For all that Bruce had not done, there was too much he had done. And though Dick could try to take on that mantle, there was only ever going to be one Batman for the world.

\---

From above, Jason dropped to the ground, using the momentum to kick the crook straight in the face. The result was teeth and blood spewing from the criminal’s mouth, even as Jason landed solidly. The new boots were a good addition; nothing too fancy, but they did the job they were supposed to. Balancing impact to perform maneuvers otherwise impossible and making sure that the bad guys received the short end of the stick.

Since Bruce was gone, a good part of his Rogue’s Gallery had followed. The Joker, left with no more drive, had been found one fine day in Old Arkham, hung by a rope in a room painted ‘HAHAHAHA’ in someone’s blood. Ivy and Harley had settled somewhere else. Freeze was MIA. Two-Face, Croc and Penguin had been left to settle Gotham’s underworld; but new enemies had popped up alongside the new Batman.

And while Bruce might’ve trusted Dick as his successor, Jason had other ways of doing things that Dick was unlikely to agree with. Dragging the criminal to a nearby wall, he slammed the man into concrete. “Where is he?” The man spat, a globule of blood shooting along with saliva onto Jason’s mask. Unperturbed, Jason simply took out a gun and shot the man in the knee. A howling screech filled the silence of the night, but there was no one nearby to hear.

“I’ll ask you again. Where is he?”  
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”  
“Yes you do. You’re an informant. And informants have information. So unless you want me to blow your other knee, you are going to tell me. Where is Freeze?”

\---

It was cold. But that was expected. What was not expected was the miniature Antarctic that Freeze had built up in this place. Ice crawled across the walls, as if a plant extending its tendrils out wide. Where there was solid walls and floor, it was covered in a thick sheet of frost, so that everything was white. And that was just the entrance.

Even the heating element in his suit wasn’t enough to shield him completely from the cold, but it at the very least kept him from hypothermia. Shivering slightly, he went in; and the further he went, the colder it got. Thick layers of ice hid away the walls that used to be, closing in until it formed a narrow pathway into a large cavernous room. 

Inside, it was almost all white, with large canisters of liquid bubbling away at the far end of the room. Steps led towards a control panel, where a man stood, even as another path led towards a different portion of the complex.

The man, who had been engaged in some form of study, turned around to face his surprise visitor. His face was clammy and almost blue-ish in tinge, with red goggles donned over his eyes. The glass dome that used to seal away his head from the rest of the world was absent, and his usual suit was replaced by a lab coat. But the guise of the man was unmistakable. Standing before Jason was Victor Fries.

“Ah. The second Robin. I did not expect you.”

Fries spoke, and something in Jason triggered, as he lunged towards the man and held him by the collar. Unperturbed, Fries continued.

“No need to be so rude.”  
“Where is he? I know you were at the mortuary. I know you took his body. Where is he?”  
“He is right behind you.”

Fries acknowledged, almost nonchalantly, and Jason took an incredulous look at him.

“You don’t honestly expect me to believe your bullshit, do y-?”  
“Jason, let him down.”

A familiar voice spoke from behind. A voice that wasn’t supposed to be heard for evermore. A voice whose owner should be gone by now. Jason turned slowly, wide-eyed. Emotions welled within him one by one in quick succession; first incredulity, then confusion, then shock, then anger. He let Fries go, as the man dropped to the floor, and instead went for his former mentor.

Aiming a punch at his face, the man who had once been the greatest crimefighter the world had known simply crumpled to the ground. Jason paid no heed though, simply taking him by the collar and shaking him.

“YOU LIED TO US AGAIN?!”

There was no response from the man, only a slight turn of shame.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE I SPENT SO MUCH EFFORT ON YOU! Does Dick know?”  
“Unlikely.”  
“Are you even going to bother explaining yourself?”  
“Are you going to let me?”

Jason let the man drop the ground with a thud, feeling slightly powerless himself. Fries approached the two, offering a hand to Bruce and then turning to Jason. “Perhaps you would wish for a better place to continue this conversation.”

\---

Facing his former mentor, having shifted to a more appropriate location, Jason scowled.

“So are you going to explain? How you feigned your death AGAIN? Why you did it? WHAT KIND OF PIECE OF SHIT FATHER FIGURE LETS HIS KIDS THINK HE’S DEAD?”

Instead of answering, Bruce pulled away his shirt, revealing some high-tech pacemaker of some sort. Jason’s anger turned into confusion and frustration. Encapsulating on that moment, Bruce spoke.

“I wasn’t lying. I’m dying Jason. I’ve dying for a while now. I had to get Victor’s help in prolonging my life just a bit more so that I could finish up my final project. Letting you guys in wasn’t going to make it any easier or quicker. So I decided to feign my death prematurely. Took a bit of toxin to make it seem like I was dead. That was the easy part.”

“You’re dying? Of what? The world hasn’t been the same without you. Crime rates have risen, your Rogues’ Gallery has self-destructed and the rest of Gotham is in chaos, even with Dick trying to pick up after the mess you left behind.”

Bruce didn’t move. “I know.”

But the answer to the question didn’t come from Bruce. Instead, it was Fries who spoke next.

“Stage 4 Cancer. Prognosis is that he has weeks to live. My technology has been able to prolong that to months, but it is too late to salvage what is lost. Even with him staying in this environment, he will die soon enough.”

Jason put his hands to his mask. This was too much. Having had to take over the mantle of Batman, it wasn’t likely that Dick had figured out anything. On the other hand, Tim might have realized, though Jason hadn’t thought of asking him. Trying to wrap his mind around the whole scenario was giving Jason a major headache.

“So what’s this project you are working on? Why couldn’t you just rest in peace like most people?”

Bruce sighed, but reached into his pocket and produced a small disc.

“It’s a backup plan, in case things go awry.”  
“So what? I’m supposed to deliver this to Dick?”  
“No you’re supposed to keep it.”  
“Shouldn’t the Batman have access to this?”

Shaking his head, Bruce looked into Jason’s eyes through the mask.

“It was always my greatest regret that I couldn’t avenge what happened to you, but the Batman cannot be an avenger of justice in the way that you would’ve wanted me to. Dick is the Batman now. And regardless of how he does things, the legacy and the mantle will continue. There are some things that the Batman can never do, that Red Hood could.”

“So I’m your tool in all of this? We’re all pawns in this little game of yours?”  
“That’s your decision to make not mine.”

Anger, frustration, sadness, everything welled up within Jason. He knew he couldn’t refuse but he had more than a bone to pick with the old man. Of everything that had been done, of everything that had happened, even when he was supposed to be dead, he was still thinking like this.

“So this is Batman’s final legacy.”

“...No. This is Bruce Wayne’s final legacy.”

\---

In his room, Jason looked at the disc in his hand. He still remembered, everything that had happened. Everything that had been done. Even to the end, the old man wanted to tussle with him. To make sure that Jason was the one that made the “right decision”. He had contemplated throwing it away, or telling one of the others, but in the end, had kept it away until Fries sent news of Bruce’s true passing.

Sighing, Jason slipped the disc into the drive bay. The familiar face of Bruce Wayne displayed on the screen.

“If you are accessing this program, it is because the legacy of the first Batman has come to an end. This program contains all contingency files and the necessary measures against all possible threats to Earth. Please speak the password for the program.”

“Todd.”

“Access approved. Opening documentations for Project Dawnbreak.”

Something new had begun.


End file.
